January 2012 USD 257 Message to the Public

Author George Bernard Shaw once said that “the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”  His quotation makes us remember the importance of thorough communication during every endeavor in our lives.  Not only is communication paramount to every successful relationship, business transaction, and goal that we have for ourselves and our children, but it is a process that needs to be constantly refined, updated, and verified so that everyone understands the direction, scope, and course of an organization or community.  I truly believe that one cannot “over-communicate”, and that many (if not most) of the issues that bother us in our jobs, families, and communities are results of our failure to fully communicate our intentions.  From this perspective, the January USD 257 Message to the Community will focus on communicating to the public about the school district’s new USD 257 “School Reach” messaging system, and how it will make an impact on fostering even better communication between USD 257 and the community that we serve.

The New USD 257 “School Reach” System: During the month of November, the USD 257 School Board approved the purchase of a new school messaging service called “School Reach” because a need existed for the school district to more easily communicate with a large amount of parents, staff, and students.  “School Reach” was chosen because it was a messaging service that allowed USD 257 officials to send voice mails, text messages, and email messages quickly and easily to parents and staff. 

“Code Red” calls will no longer be used:  In the past, USD 257 had worked with the “Code Red” calling system in order to reach parents in the event of major emergencies.  However, “Code Red” had some limitations for the district’s communication to parents.  Although “Code Red” did allow USD 257 to contact large amounts of parents and staff through phone messages, it did not give the school district flexibility with other types of communications (emails or text messages).  In addition, “Code Red” was seen by the community as an “emergency phone message service”; therefore, USD 257 did not use it for non-emergency purposes. 

The Benefits of the “School Reach” System:  “School Reach” is an upgrade for our district because the district can now contact parents for both emergency (i.e. school cancelations or safety concerns) and non-emergency communication (i.e. reminders regarding school events).  Although the system is new to the district (and the staff needs to be fully trained on the system), it is our hope that the system will eventually increase our good communication with parents and community members through these proactive ways in the future:

1. Principals will have the ability to contact parents in order to remind them about specific upcoming events.
2. Teachers will have the ability to contact parents in order to remind them about classroom projects or events.
3. Coaches, sponsors, and athletic directors will have the ability to send messages to parents regarding arrival and departure times for games and contests.
4. Parents will be reminded if their children have any outstanding fees.
5. The district office will use the service for school cancelations or safety communications.

It is the goal of USD 257 to constantly work at communicating most effectively to the parents, community, and students regarding the events involving the school district.  We believe that the “School Reach” Messaging System will help our staff accomplish this goal.   Please contact the USD 257 School District Office at 365-4700 if you have any questions regarding this new service.  Thank you.